Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [389]
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Geography & Climate
Three key jungle areas of Peru are accessible to the traveler. In the southeast, near the Bolivian border, there’s Puerto Maldonado (right), a port at the junction of the Ríos Tambopata and Madre de Dios reached by air from Lima via Cuzco or by a slowly improving road from Cuzco. South of Puerto Maldonado lie numerous lodges and campsites in the Reserva Nacional Tambopata (Click here) and in the Parque Nacional Bahuaja-Sonene (Click here).
Northeast of Cuzco, and fairly easily accessible from there, is Parque Nacional Manu (Click here), one of the best-protected areas of Amazon rainforest.
In central Peru, east of Lima, the Chanchamayo area (Click here) consists of the two small towns of San Ramón and La Merced, both easily accessed by road from Lima, and several nearby villages, including Puerto Bermúdez and Oxapampa. From La Merced a paved road continues to the boomtown of Satipo, a major coffee-growing area.
A rough jungle road goes north from La Merced, via Puerto Bermúdez, to the river port of Pucallpa (Click here), capital of the department of Ucayali. Most Pucallpa-bound travelers, however, take the better roads from Lima via Tingo María, or fly.
Further north, in the department of Loreto, is the small port of Yurimaguas (Click here), reached from the north coast by road. Sequestered far in the northeast, and accessible only by riverboat from Pucallpa or Yurimaguas, or by air, is Peru’s major jungle port, Iquitos (Click here).
Wherever you go in the Amazon Basin, you can be sure of two things: there will be rainforest and it’s going to rain. Even in the drier months of June to September, the area gets more rain than the mountains do in their wettest months. When it’s not wet, it’s scorchingly hot and, whatever the weather, humid.
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SOUTHERN AMAZON
Abutting the neighboring nations of Bolivia and Brazil, the vast tract of the southern Amazon Basin is one of the Peru’s remotest territories. Ecosystems here have been less disturbed than in any other part of the Amazon, yet there are also some of the best-developed facilities for ecotravelers. Travel here is challenging, but the benefits are clear: visitors will be rewarded with a vibrant treasure trove of unforgettable close encounters of the wild kind.
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PUERTO MALDONADO
082 / pop 56,450 / elev 250m
At first sight a mayhem of mud streets and manically tooting mototaxis (three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaw taxis), Puerto Maldonado soon endears itself to you. Its money-spinning proximity to some of the most easily visited animal-rich jungle in the entire Amazon Basin is its blessing but also its curse: travelers arrive yet all too quickly leave again en route to the lodges and wildlife on the nearby rivers.
Yet the town’s languid, laid-back ambience invites you to linger. Whether you arrive by air or by road, Puerto Maldonado will certainly be a shock to the system. Unlike Peru’s larger Amazon cities further north, this is a rawer, untidier jungle town with a mercilessly sweltering climate and a fair quantity of mosquitoes. But its beautiful plaza and burgeoning accommodation options will, together with a lively nightlife, provide plenty of reason to hang around here for a couple of days.
The town itself has been important over the years for rubber, logging and even for gold and oil prospecting, and its role as a crossroads is about to take on greater dimensions as the Interoceanic Hwy (Click here), linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via Brazil and Peru, takes shape. For the moment, though, it’s of foremost importance to travelers as the jumping-off point for a voyage on the Ríos Tambopata and Madre de Dios, converging here. These watery wildernesses offer the most unspoilt yet accessible jungle locales in the country, yet are served by some excellent accommodation options for travelers who want that touch of luxury. Undisputedly, Puerto Maldonado gives the traveler the chance to see, feel and hear